Video: How to Make Pretty Labels in Microsoft Word

Oh yes, you read that right. There is a video on Just a Girl and Her Blog. What?! I’ve always been afraid to do video tutorials because I get all shy about having my picture taken (which is why you see the same 4 photos of me over and over 😉 ) and being recorded, but I recently sucked it up and did a little screencast for my “How to Start a Blog” page, which made me think, “Hey! Maybe this video stuff isn’t so bad after all!” {Sure, it’s just my voice and not my face, but…baby steps, people!}

So one of the first posts I did ever in the history of Just a Girl and Her Blog was a quick little tutorial with screenshots about how to make labels in Word. I almost didn’t publish it because I thought people might think it was silly, but the thing blew up! It is still my most visited post two years later and has been pinned over 147,000 times as of the date of this writing. Craziness. Since I’ve learned more little tricks in Word since that original post and I think videos are easier to follow along with, I decided to revive it. After all, everyone should be able to have pretty labels any time they need them, right?! 😉

Feel free to follow along with the video or if you prefer screenshots, they are included below as well. Happy Labeling!

Creating labels in Word is SO easy once you know a few basic tricks and tips. I am working on a MacBook Pro that runs Word 2011, so if you have a PC or different version of Word, your buttons might be in a slightly different place than mine, but you should still be able to follow along. (My original version of this tutorial was done on a PC, so you can check out those screen shots if that’s easier for you.)

We are going to start with a simple round label. In your “Home” screen, click the “Shapes” button and under “Basic Shapes,” choose the circle. To make a perfect circle, hold down the “Shift” key and click and drag your cursor to draw your shape.

Next, click over to the “Format” tab. Set your desired size on the far right side of the screen. (I picked 3.5″ x 3.5″.) Then, so you can manipulate your shape more easily, click the “Text Wrap” button and select “In Front of Text.”

My version of Word automatically puts a little shadow on my shape, which I don’t like, so I always remove it. To do this, I click the “Effects” button, go to “Shadow,” and choose “No Shadow” at the bottom.

Next we can set the colors of the circle’s outline and fill. Let’s start with the outline. Still under the “Format” tab, click “Line” and choose your desired color. I chose a bright pink. (Note: I happened to have used pink recently, so it was already a choice for me. If you don’t see pink or another color you’re looking for as a choice, click “More Colors” and it will let you choose any color you’d like.) To make the line a little thicker and more substantial, click “Line” again, go down to “Weights,” and choose your desired weight. I chose 3 pt.

Now we’ll use a similar process to choose our fill color. Simply click the “Fill” button and choose whatever color you’d like. I chose white.

I always like to add a second layer to make my labels a little more interesting, so I’ll go back to the “Home” tab, click the “Shape” button, go to “Basic Shapes” and choose the circle again. Hold down the “Shift” key and click and drag to draw your circle.

Again, I’ll repeat the steps under the “Format” tab of clicking “Wrap Text” and choosing “In Front of Text,” and then clicking the “Effects” button, going to “Shadow,” and choosing “No Shadow.”

We’ll resize our inner circle. (I made mine 3.25″ x 3.25″.) Then we can line up our two circles by holding down the “Command” key (or “Ctrl” on a PC) and clicking on both circles so that they are both selected. Next, click “Align” up in the tool bar and choose “Align Center” and then “Align Middle.”

Now that our circles are lined up, we can format the smaller circle. Making sure only the smaller circle is selected, go up to “Fill” and choose a fill color. I chose white again.

Now we’ll work on the line. As we did with the first circle, we’ll click “Line” and choose our color. (I used orange.) Then to make it a little thicker, go under “Weights” and choose a thickness. I picked 3 pt again.

To give this circle a little big more interest, we’ll go to “Line” again, then down to “Dashed” and choose one of the options there. I chose the dots and dashed line.

It’s looking great! Now we just have to add text! In the “Home” tab, click “Text Box” and draw the text box inside your label.

Next you can type in whatever you want the label to say and format it the same way you would regular text in Word. I chose “Clicker Script” font in size 48, made the font color aqua, and centered the text.

As we did before, we need to line everything up, so first I resized the text box so it didn’t have all of that extra space at the bottom. Then, holding down the “Command” key (“Ctrl” on a PC), click on each layer so that all three are selected. Under the “Format” tab, click “Align,” then “Align Center” and “Align Middle.”

Finally, with all three layers still selected, click the grouping button and choose “Group.” This will make your label one unit so you can move all the parts around the page together instead of trying to move each piece and line things up over and over.

Yay! You did it!

If you want more practice, I go through the second label step by step in the video, but one little trick I wanted to make sure I showed you is how to fill your shape with a picture rather than a solid color. This allows you to do any type of background you like– a fun pattern, a picture of your kids– whatever!

To do this, start out with a shape of your desired size, go into the “Format” tab, click “Fill” and instead of choosing a color, choose “Fill Effects.”

A little box will pop up, and at the top of the box, you are going to want to choose “Picture or Texture.” Then next to the words “From file:” click “Choose Picture.” You can then pick any picture you have on your computer. If you’re looking for a specific type of background, try doing a Google image search for “pink polka dots” or “blue chevron” or whatever type of background you want and you should be able to save the image from there and then select it to fill your shape. (Be aware of copyright restrictions.)

I chose a chalkboard background for my shape, and from there I was able to add a second layer and text like we did in our first example. (Again, if you’d like more specific instructions for the second label, see the video above.)

And that’s it! It really is so easy once you know these few different functions, and once you have the basics down, there are so many different things you can make. The sky is the limit! After I’m finished designing, I usually print my labels on white card stock and cut them out. If they’ll be in a high-traffic area, I’ll laminate them, but if not, I just attach them with tape as is. So simple! No excuse me while I go label everything in sight… 😉

Great tutorial! I’ve got to do 17 sticker labels for some guest welcome bags for a friend’s wedding that’s this weekend. My printer is totally inadequate so what’s your advice on having a kinkos print and what’s a good size for circle label that Avery make? the bags will actually be a white box that’s about 8″ square, hence why I’ve chosen to go with the round label.

Other question, do I need to make a “sheet” of the labels or can you just send a pdf of the label to a kinkos and they can take it from there? TIA for any insight you can provide!

Hi, Lindsay! I haven’t worked with Kinko’s on printing labels since I always do mine at home, so I would call them directly and ask what the best way to handle that would be. As far as sticker size, 2″ is pretty standard, but it will totally depend on the look you are going for on your box. Have a wonderful week!

Good Morning Abby ~ I am so excited to make these labels – just yesterday I was on Etsy looking for some pretty labels for my new glass canisters – Thank you so much for this video – You made it look so easy ~ I hope it will be this easy for me. Have a wonderful day Thanks for saving me money. Much love, Rose

Hi there, just wanted to stop in and say hi. I found your blog while searching on Pinterest for no sew curtains, and then realised what a awesome find your blog was as I slowly starting reading through all of your posts. Anyways just wanted to say I’m really enjoying your stuff and I’m just about to sign up for you ebook on how to build a framework, as I’m really needing a good push into making my blog work, missprintdesign.blogspot.co.nz

Hello Abby, Let’s just say this girl is doin’ a Happy Dance because of this awesome video! I was trying unsuccessfully to make labels on my Macbook using your text version for PC users. Your video saved the project I was about to scrap because I could not figure out how to move all the parts of the label (shape & text) in one movement! Thanks to you, I know how to do it….Hurray!

Hi Abby, Thank you so much for this. It is really helpful to see the tutorial and I can’t wait to go and label everything in my house! Thank you for such an interesting blog. I love all of the varied posts plus the touch of humour that goes along with it all. 🙂

Well I know there is no way you read all those surveys already but this is something I was REALLY hoping you would do! LOL So THANK YOU! And you did a great job! That actually makes that post much easier to understand. Labels are one of those things you need to See/watch someone DO.

I had no idea there was a separate tool to align everything! I’ve just been “eyeballing” things for years. This makes my obsessed-with-perfect-formatting-but-settling-for-close-enough heart happy. Thanks for sharing! 🙂

I love the red bracket shaped text box, you used on the title of this tutorial. That is exactly what I am trying to make in word. I see some tips on how to put circles on top of each other, but I don’t see the bracket shaped text box that you were going to teach us how to make. Could you help me find that part? Thanks!

Real beginner here …. love the labels and always wanted to use them around the house, at parties, etc. but couldn’t figure out how to do them. I can create them on Word easy enough, but then what? Do you print on adhesive paper? Do you have to cut out each one? Thanks!

Hmmm… That was on my old computer, which I believe ran Microsoft Word 2011. I now have the most recent version of Word, and it still has the plaque shape, so I would think that any version in between would have it too. In the version I have now, the plaque is under “Basic Shapes” between the plus sign and the cylinder. I hope this helps!

I typically print my labels on white card stock. If they’re going to be in a high traffic area, I laminate them with my laminator, then cut them out and use tape to adhere them to my containers. If it’s not a high traffic area, I skip the laminating and just tape the card stock label to the container. If you want a sticker label (similar to these: https://www.amazon.com/Avery-Permanent-Print-Labels-22807/dp/B005IMAKYG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1495046199&sr=8-4&keywords=sticker+label), you can look up the template (typically on the package of labels it will tell you the number of the template to look for on their site), download it, and then create your design within the template guidelines and print directly to the sticker paper. I hope this helps! Have a great day!

Love your tutorial! So, I’m trying to find a way to create beautiful labels for my finished knitted and crochet crafts. I have iron on 1×1 size label that you just back-stitch your name or something in the middle, but I can’t do that pretty. So do you have a way to make beautiful labels for fabric?

Thank you for responding! I’ll definitely check it out. People are trying to convince me I should buy a Cricut Explore Air 2, but they’re like $200. A bit much just to print fabric labels. lol But it does a lot of other cool and crafty things too and that could be helpful in the future. Thanks again! 🙂

Just scissors! 🙂 If you want to get the pre-cut sticky labels, you can buy them (I like the Avery brand.) and then download the correlating template from avery.com, create your design within the template, and then print right onto the stickers. Hope you’re having a great week!

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